(Christian Gallery News Service, April 25, 2002) On Saturday, April 20, 2002, a man wielding a large hunting knife attacked a 79 year old peaceful abortion protestor outside a Planned Parenthood abortion facility in Denver, Colorado. The alleged attacker is a 300 pound, bearded man, 39 years old named Christopher Smith. The picture below is the police photo taken shortly after his arrest.

Christian Gallery News Service interviewed Jo Scott who was a witness at the scene. She said, "Today at Planned Parenthood in Denver, we were attacked. A woman showed up with a young girl and her boyfriend and they went into the abortuary. The usual things happened as they entered PP. We talked to them, the woman got angry, and the girl was crying. A few minutes later the woman left PP alone in her car. About 30 minutes later she came back with two guys who were irate. The main guy was spit fire mad and made a bee line for us. We (Ken, Jason, and I) were standing at the entrance of PP. He weighed about 250 pounds, was about 5' 10" tall, had long hair, he was heavily tattooed and dirty looking. I don't know exactly how old he is, but I'd say early thirties. He began to spew the usual obscenities along with the usual lies, such as she'll die if she doesn't have this abortion. When Ken and Jason called his bluff, he hit Ken, then said he was a paid up member of the 'Sons of Silence' and he was going to kill us all. The man then headed back to his truck which was parked up against the back fence of PP. That's where Paul is every Saturday.

Paul, age 79, began to talk to the man and the mad man pulled a knife out of his truck and plunged it at Paul two maybe three times saying, "You want to die too?". That's when Paul fell off the chair he was standing on.

"The man with the knife then saw the gate in the fence and went through it after Paul. At that point Ken, Jason and I were running to the back alley to help Paul. When we arrived Paul was on the ground hurt and the man with the knife was back on the PP side of the fence, but not for long. As soon as Paul was able to get to his feet, the man with the knife came back out to the alley. This time Jason and Ken met him. Apparently, the man with the knife knew that the police were on the way, so he and his friend took off down the alley in an attempt to get away. Ken and Jason stayed on them for eight blocks witnessing to them the whole way. Then Ken saw a couple of cops eating in a restaurant and pulled them out to arrest the guys. They stopped him and arrested him.

"The man missed Paul with the knife, but he did throw Paul to the ground scuffing him up pretty good. His knees were bleeding and his elbow was in tough shape. The man with the knife was charged with a felony. At this point I'm not sure which one, but I do know that he's charged with assault on an elderly person and from what I understand, that doubles his punishment. PP had two of the retired cops on duty today and they did nothing to stop the man with the knife, other than to call the cops, which we had already done.

"Just another day at the not so OK corral," Jo Scott concluded.

In a move that startled the abortion abolitionist community in Colorado, on Monday, April 22, 2002, the Denver District Attorney dropped the felony charges against Christopher Smith, reducing his charges to a misdemeanor threat charge.

Given the fact that many people, both inside and outside the abortion facility, saw the man menacing others with a large knife, the Denver abortion abolitionists were certain the actions of the Denver District Attorney would actually encourage other more violent attacks against the abortion protestors.

After protests from the Denver community activists, a Denver police detective returned to the abortion facility on April 24, 2002, viewed the onsite surveillance tapes recorded by the Planned Parenthood facility and, based on what he saw on the tapes, then rearrested Christopher Smith, charging him with felony menacing charges. He was held in Denver police custody under $50,000 bail.

UPDATE:

As of Thursday night, April 26, 2002, Christopher Smith, the man who attacked with the knife, could not be found in any jail facility in Denver, Colorado. As of this time, it looks like the man has been set free even though there is no record that bond has been posted. The Christian Gallery News Service has reporters looking for further information. This story will be updated as information is made available.